{"id":1074,"date":"2026-07-13T19:10:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1074"},"modified":"2026-07-13T19:10:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:10:37","slug":"the-social-security-chief-keeps-sending-staff-his-daughters-pretzels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1074","title":{"rendered":"The Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter’s Pretzels"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Morale at the Social Security Administration \u2014 which is at a 59-year staffing low due to the Trump administration\u2019s sweeping workforce cuts \u2014 is poor.<\/p>\n

Read more Wisconsin Governor Candidate Fires Campaign Manager Over Financial \u2018Inaccuracies\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

To fix it, SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano has twice sent staff packages of chocolate-covered pretzels. They\u2019re from his daughter\u2019s company, Pretzables, emblazoned with Pretzable\u2019s branding, website and phone number, as well as a line thanking employees for their work.<\/p>\n

The pretzels, staff tell NOTUS, have not addressed the underlying morale issue. (\u201cIt\u2019s tone-deaf,\u201d one SSA field office employee said.) They have, however, raised even more questions around Bisignano\u2019s leadership \u2014 specifically around the ethics of sending staff pretzels from his daughter\u2019s company.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a violation of ethics rules to use public office for private gain, especially for a family member, to endorse a product, or provide preferential treatment,\u201d said Scott Amey, the general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight. \u201cThere may be a better way to send your regards or thank the staff for working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

No agency funds or staff were used for the pretzels, which were most recently sent out to mark America\u2019s 250th anniversary, and the matter was reviewed and cleared in an ethics review, according to an SSA spokesperson. Pretzables and Bisignano\u2019s daughter did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The chocolate-covered pretzels are \u201cnot the most twisted ethics violation of all time,\u201d Amey noted. Even so, concerns remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s at minimum raising the question of whether Bisigano is adhering to his obligation to avoid even the appearance of violating the rules,\u201d Cynthia Brown, a senior ethics counsel at the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re picking up a relative\u2019s business and giving that a megaphone of government access, that\u2019s when it kind of crosses the line for me to say, \u2018What is the purpose of this? Is this employee appreciation, or is this promotion of a family\u2019s business opportunity?\u2019\u201d she said, noting that ethics violations can happen \u201cwith no harm intended.\u201d<\/p>\n

The apparent intention \u2014 as a pick-me-up for the strained workforce \u2014 did not land, however.<\/p>\n

Some offices have \u201cboycotted\u201d the gesture by not touching the pretzels at all, the field office employee said, noting that actions like restoring telework flexibility and adding staff would be more helpful morale boosters. The staff unions have posted repeatedly about the pretzels on social media too, making memes<\/u><\/span> about the treats coming at a difficult time for staff.<\/p>\n

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The patriotic pretzel trays aren\u2019t the first Pretzable merchandise that SSA offices have received.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Says U.S. Should Collect Fee as \u2018GUARDIAN\u2019 of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n

Months ago, field offices and some SSA hearing offices received plastic-wrapped trays of treats topped with bows for the holidays. This first round of thank-you snacks was \u201crandom,\u201d a field office manager told NOTUS, with some offices getting them and others not receiving any. Some got large orders and others received small packages.<\/p>\n

Additional staffing would have been more helpful for morale, the field office manager said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have far too many employees getting sick and diagnosed with serious illnesses as the acute stress of being severely understaffed hits them,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Another field office employee told NOTUS that there weren\u2019t enough pretzels in the recent package for everyone in their office to have one.<\/p>\n

The agency spokesperson told NOTUS that at Bisignano\u2019s direction, SSA has expanded the number of employees receiving performance awards and given the highest dollar amount of awards in agency history.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial Security is delivering better, faster, higher-quality service for the American people through technology and process improvements,\u201d they said. \u201cCallers to the National 800 Number are being served 75% faster than under the previous administration. Wait times for in-person field office visits have been reduced by 30%, and disability hearing wait times are down by 40%, reaching historic lows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of those gains are coming at least in part by shifting staff around the agency. SSA has been moving field office employees, workers who process claims and other employees to answer its phone line since last year. Just last month, the agency asked<\/u><\/span> for more volunteers to move to the 1-800 number for 120-day stints.<\/p>\n

One field office employee told NOTUS that their office got the package of pretzels last week, but they haven\u2019t had time to eat their share yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on day two of being on the window either alone or with one other agent,\u201d they said. \u201cWe saw 171 people yesterday and probably just under that today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Names His Pick for Lindsey Graham\u2019s Interim Replacement<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Staff say the gesture isn’t increasing morale, but it is raising ethics questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agencies"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter's Pretzels - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1074\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter's Pretzels - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Staff say the gesture isn't increasing morale, but it is raising ethics questions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1074\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T19:10:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"The Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter’s Pretzels\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T19:10:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074\"},\"wordCount\":793,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f20b722ef93afbc9130a8abea6977d58-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Agencies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074\",\"name\":\"The Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter's Pretzels - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f20b722ef93afbc9130a8abea6977d58-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T19:10:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1074#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f20b722ef93afbc9130a8abea6977d58-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f20b722ef93afbc9130a8abea6977d58-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"President Donald Trump holds up a signed proclamation in the Oval Office honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act as Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano looks on, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Washington. 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